Golden Panthers bogged down by Warriors

When Pope John Paul II head coach Brian Kilpatrick and his squad embarked on their first journey through the Pioneer Athletic Conference lacrosse schedule, he had no illusions of a championship.

What he did expect was a measure of improvement as the season progressed, and, by season's end, the building blocks of a successful program to be put in place. Mission accomplished, so far.

“I never thought that we would go out and win the PAC-10 this season,” said Kilpatrick. “What I want to see is us getting better and correcting mistakes or problems, and I think we have done a good job of that so far. When I played high school lacrosse, I played with kids that I had played with since I was seven years old. These kids have had to come together in one year, not an easy task.”

Methacton jumped out to a 5-0 lead and took an 8-2 lead heading into the break, but the Golden Panthers battled the Warriors tooth and nail after the intermission, digging in on the muddy turf and playing to a second-half draw. Methacton won by a final score of 13-7.

“Today is a perfect example of what we are trying to do,” added Fitzpatrick. “We didn’t play our best first half, but we corrected it and they improved what we were doing today and played them even for the entire second half. I am very proud of the way they respond to anything we try to do. The kids understand what we are building and how we are going about it.”

With the loss, Pope John Paul II fell to 1-5 in the league and remained one game behind Boyertown in the standings. The Golden Panthers scored two goals less than a minute and a half apart to cut into the Warrior lead as goal tender Josh Bildstein (16 saves) continued to be solid in net.

“It’s been frustrating at times this season,” said Matt Bildstein. “We haven’t gotten frustrated with each other, it's been with the results, we all want to win everytime we play. It just hasn’t worked out that way, yet. We did some good things today in the second half, but we let them get out to too big of a lead. It’s hard to climb out of a hole like that.”

Bildstein provided some fireworks of his own, scoring a highlight reel goal in the second period as he threaded the needle to beat Methacton goaltender Ryan Murphy just under the bar.

PJP2 exhibited much more possession control in the second half, cycling the ball in the Methacton zone and outshooting them 15-9. Bildstein, Sam Brennan, Gill Reid and Nick Pollick swarmed around Murphy and the Warrior net.  

Led by Pollick’s hat trick, and a solid defensive effort by Tom Rodgers, Ryan Mitchell and Tom Reeves, the Golden Panthers narrowed the gap in the waning minutes of the game, as the Warriors had extended their lead to start the final period.

“We worked hard today against a good team,” said Nick Pollick, who scored probably the easiest goal of his career as he shoveled home the rebound of Bildstein’s shot to close out the scoring. “It's getting better. We have really come together as a team. We're still getting used playing with each other, so it’s tough when we play teams that have been together for a long time and there are some really good teams in the PAC-10 this year.”

“We have a very young team,” said Kilpatrick. “Of course we want to win more games, but it is extremely important that we keep moving forward and learning as we go. I think the young guys getting some playing time will help us to continue building our program, which is what our main goal is.”

“This game is about confidence,” said Pollick. “We have to get off to a good start. When we do, we play with more confidence and it shows on the scoreboard. We believe in each other and need to work every time we take the field and the wins will come.”

The future looks quite bright indeed for Kilpatrick’s squad, but the road will not get any easier as on Wednesday, the Golden Panthers host Spring-Ford (8-0 PAC-10, 9-1 overall).

Scoring

First quarter

11:24   M- Ridgeway from Aranow

7:28     M- Ridgeway from Sobociski

4:19     M- McClay from Sobociski

3:43     M- Ridgeway from Brasher

2:14     M- Aranow from Ridgeway

 :53      PJ- Bildstein from Pollick

Second quarter

9:44     M- Sobociski from Pauline

9:16     M- Aranow from Markle

7:29     PJ- Bildstein from Brennan

4:11     M- Sobociski 

Third quarter

8:15     M- Markle from Pauline

7:53     M- Brasher from Aranow

7:26     PJ- Reid from Mitchell

6:19     PJ- Pollick from Mitchell

2:06     M- Markle from Ridgeway

  :56     PJ- Kelly from Bildstein

Fourth period

10:52   M- Johnson from Sobociski

 6:04    M- Schirph

 4:26    PJ- Pollick from Reid

 3:38    PJ- Pollick from Bildstein

Methacton                    5            3            3            2            - 13

Pope John Paul II          1            1            3            2            -   7

Pope John Paul II stats

Bildstein (PJP) 16 saves

Ground balls – 22

Face offs won   8/25